Attacking Newsom’s climate agenda, environmental activists launch ad campaign in battleground states

Environmental activists have launched a six-figure campaign attacking California Gov. Gavin Newsom's (D) climate record, through an advertisement airing in four battleground states.

Food & Water Action, the lobbying arm of the national group Food & Water Watch, is behind a 30-second ad slamming Newsom for failing to make good on promises to shut down the contentious Aliso Canyon natural gas storage facility. 

"Americans are looking for leadership to resist Trump's assault on our climate. Someone who follows through and won't back down," the ad states. "But his public utilities commission is considering keeping it open indefinitely — just like the oil and gas industry wants."

Aliso Canyon, located just northwest of Los Angeles, was home to the country's biggest-ever methane leak, which forced families to flee the area in 2015.

While campaigning for governorship in 2018, Newsom told a reporter that he was “fully committed” to shutting down the facility.

"It was Governor Newsom himself who, at the start of his first term, said that he was committed to closing down Aliso Canyon," Andrea Vega, senior Southern California organizer for Food & Water Watch, told The Hill in a recent interview.

"He had even directed his public utilities commission to expedite the closure," Vega added.

Yet last December, the California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC) approved an increase in the facility’s inventory levels. The decision, the CPUC said at the time, served “to guard ratepayers from the type of natural gas price spikes that occurred last winter.”

CPUC was expected to vote this Thursday on a proposed decision that would keep Aliso Canyon running while also charting its eventual decommissioning — but with no definitive closure date. 

Amid protests from activists that the terms were insufficient, the CPUC announced last week that it would instead vote Thursday to extend the decision’s statutory deadline until March 31, 2025.

The new ad campaign — to be aired in New Hampshire, Michigan, South Carolina and Nevada — aims to ramp up pressure on the state government to shut down a site that activists believe is both a public health hazard and unnecessary, according to Food & Water Action. 

“Governor Newsom wants to position himself as a national leader on climate and in opposing Trump, but he can’t be a credible national leader if his own house is not in order” Mitch Jones, deputy director of the lobbying group, said in a statement.

Asked to respond to the new campaign, Daniel Villaseñor, a spokesperson for the governor, said in an email that Newsom's "energy policy is ambitious, not reckless."

"We are committed to safely closing Aliso Canyon without harming working families with skyrocketing utility bills," Villaseñor continued.

While noting the governor's successes in accelerating the clean energy transition, the spokesperson said that shuttering Aliso Canyon before natural gas demand dwindles would be "irresponsible."

"That’s a recipe for precisely the same price spikes we've seen in the gasoline market," Villaseñor said.

The state, he explained, has collaborated with local and federal partners to ensure the plant's safety, via new protocols and stringent testing.

"The governor wants to see Aliso Canyon phased out, but not at the cost of enormous price increases for working families and our ability to keep the lights on," Villaseñor added.

The Public Advocates Office, an independent watchdog within the CPUC, last week described the proposed decision as striking "a careful balance between ensuring reliability, controlling energy costs and progressing toward California’s clean energy goals."

Among the key measures included in the proposal is the issuance of biennial assessments, which would reevaluate appropriate inventory levels for the site beginning in June 2025.

The process, according to a CPUC fact sheet, would facilitate incremental reductions at the site, while also adopting a mix of carbon neutral energy resources to ultimately replace Aliso Canyon.

"The proposed decision ensures that the transition away from Aliso Canyon is both systematic and responsive to California's evolving energy needs," the Public Advocates Office stated.

Vega, on the other hand, expressed her disappointment in the proposal, arguing that it continues to "kick the can down the road" with a biennial review process instead of a clear timeline.

"It's something that's honestly so simple and has been demanded from the community for now nearly a decade," she said.

While Newsom may be widely seen as a possible contender for the 2028 presidency, Vega stressed her belief that political aspirations need to be set aside when it comes to the Aliso Canyon issue.

"I just want Governor Newsom to keep the promise that he made to these community members," she added.